Report: Videogames can cause dementia in children

by Steven Mostyn - Oct 14 2011, 11:38

The playing of videogames can lead to worrying bouts of temporary dementia in children, according to leading UK neurologist Baroness Greenfield.

Greenfield’s contentious opinion comes via a report in The Sun newspaper, in which she suggests that “screen technologies cause high arousal,” in game players, “which, in turn, activates the brain system’s underlying addiction.”

Although the good Baroness has acknowledged that modern interactive platforms are able to inspire and harness human creativity, she now believes prolonged videogame exposure can cause the mind to effectively shut itself down when not engaged.

Speaking at a conference in Dorset, England, the neurologist pointed to potential dementia via videogames because the brain “can be temporarily disabled by activities with a strong sensory content or can be inactivated permanently by degradation”.

“There is a need to be outside, to climb trees and feel the grass under your feet and the sun on your face,” the scientist told conference attendees.

Not content with pounding on videogames, Greenfield also questioned the self-esteem and self-respect of children who “are defining themselves by how others see them” on social sites such as Facebook.

Right, we’re off to run barefoot in a nearby meadow, and then maybe we’ll play Angry Birds while sitting beneath the shadowy canopy of a great oak.

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